# Stevie — The Secret Agent character guide

> Stevie in The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** poor Stevie, Stephen, the innocent Stevie, the docile Stevie

**First appearance:** 0002-the-secret-agent

## Snapshot

A gentle, excitable young man whom the world treats as a burden, and whose fierce loyalty to those who are kind to him is the story's tenderest thing.

## Who they are

Stevie is Winnie's younger brother, a boyish figure with a horror of cruelty and a habit of drawing circles on paper when his feelings overwhelm him. He adores Mr. Verloc with a doglike devotion that his brother-in-law finds merely inconvenient, and he is easily worked upon by anyone who speaks to him kindly. His innocence is the moral measure of the book: the anarchists and the police alike treat him as a tool, and the reader is made to feel the cost of that carelessness long before the plot makes it explicit.

## Relationships

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_family_

Verloc is Stevie's brother-in-law and guardian, exploiting Stevie's innocence for his own anarchist schemes.

### [Mrs. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mrs_verloc)

_family_

Winnie is Stevie's devoted older sister, fiercely protective of him, which drives her later actions.

### [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mother)

_family_

Stevie's grandmother dotes on him and is deeply concerned for his safety and well-being.

### [Michaelis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/michaelis)

_friendship_

Michaelis shows kindness to the simple-minded Stevie, who admires his revolutionary talk.

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_family_

Verloc is Stevie's brother-in-law and guardian, exploiting Stevie's innocence for his own anarchist schemes.

### [Mrs. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mrs_verloc)

_family_

Winnie is Stevie's devoted older sister, fiercely protective of him, which drives her later actions.

### [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mother)

_family_

Stevie's grandmother dotes on him and is deeply concerned for his safety and well-being.

### [Mr. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mr_verloc)

_family_

Verloc is Stevie's brother-in-law and guardian, exploiting Stevie's innocence for his own anarchist schemes.

### [Mrs. Verloc](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mrs_verloc)

_family_

Winnie is Stevie's devoted older sister, fiercely protective of him, which drives her later actions.

### [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/mother)

_family_

Stevie's grandmother dotes on him and is deeply concerned for his safety and well-being.

## In the story

### [Author's Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/author-s-note)

The bomber in the Greenwich Observatory attack is described as 'half an idiot' whose sister committed suicide afterwards.

### [The Secret Agent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/the-secret-agent)

Winnie's younger brother, a simple and impressionable young man who lives with the Verlocs and is deeply attached to his sister.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/i)

Winnie's delicate brother, prone to fits of compassion and distraction, who draws circles and helps with household duties.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/ii)

Sits quietly at dinner, watched carefully by the women to prevent him from disturbing Mr. Verloc.

### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/iii)

Described as excitable and docile; becomes violently upset after overhearing anarchist talk and reading a story about a German officer's cruelty, needing to be calmed by his mother.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/viii)

Stevie is deeply moved by the cabman's plight, expressing his indignation with the word 'Shame!' and showing his compassionate and excitable nature.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/ix)

Sent to stay with Michaelis in the country; his recent behavior shows excitement and agitation, clenching fists and scowling, worrying his sister.

### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/xi)

Stevie's absence looms large; his death is the unspoken trauma that drives Winnie's transformation, though Mr. Verloc momentarily forgets the boy's fate.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters/stevie
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_agent_se/characters